First-Year Player Draft History

Draft Report: 2000s

The 2013 First-Year Player Draft again saw the Astros selecting first overall, becoming the third team with the top pick in back-to-back Drafts. They chose Stanford right-hander Mark Appel, who was thought to have been in the mix for the top pick in the 2012 Draft. Instead, he fell to eighth that year and chose to return to Stanford. The deicision ultimately paid off and he became the 17th player to be selected twice in the first round.

Appel, the top pick in a pitching-heavy Draft, embodied a few trends in the 2013 first round. Fifteen pitchers were selected, and six college pitchers were taken in the top 20 picks. Three prep pitchers went in the top 10 selections, led by fourth overall pick Kohl Stewart, but only three more prep arms went by the end of the round.

But the Draft wasn't all arms. Nine of the top 15 picks, in fact, were spent on position players. Eight college position players and nine prep players went in the first round, providing an interesting mix of talent.

Picking second, the Cubs made University of San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant the top position player selected. He won the Golden Spikes Award as a junior after leading the nation in home runs (31), runs scored (80), walks and slugging percentage (.820).

Oklahoma right-hander Jon Gray went third overall to the Rockies and the Indians selected Loganville (Ga.) High School outfielder Clint Frazier to round out the top five.

All but one first rounder signed and the average bonus for first-round picks was up in 2013. Bryant led the way with his $6.708 million bonus, and the average bonus for the 32 players who signed was $2.64 million, up from last year's average of $2.40 million. While spending on first-round selections increased, teams still came in well under the combined assigned values for the 32 picks who agreed to terms. Teams combined to save $3.746 million compared to the assigned values

Pick

Team

Player

Pos.

School

1.

Astros

Mark Appel

RHP

Stanford

2.

Cubs

Kris Bryant

3B

University of San Diego

3.

Rockies

Jon Gray

RHP

Oklahoma

4.

Twins

Kohl Stewart

RHP

St. Pius X (Texas)

5.

Indians

Clint Frazier

OF

Loganville HS (Ga.)

6.

Marlins

Colin Moran

3B

North Carolina

7.

Red Sox

Trey Ball

LHP

New Castle HS (Ind.)

8.

Royals

Hunter Dozier

SS

Stephen F. Austin State

9.

Pirates

Austin Meadows

OF

Grayson HS (Ga.)

10.

Blue Jays

Phil Bickford

RHP

Oaks Christian HS (Calif.)

11.

Mets

Dominic Smith

1B

JSerra HS (Calif.)

12.

Mariners

D.J. Peterson

3B

New Mexico

13.

Padres

Hunter Renfroe

OF

Mississippi State

14.

Pirates

Reese McGuire

C

Kentwood HS (Wash.)

15.

D-backs

Braden Shipley

RHP

Nevada

16.

Phillies

J.P. Crawford

SS

Lakewood HS (Calif.)

17.

White Sox

Tim Anderson

SS

East Central CC (Miss.)

18.

Dodgers

Chris Anderson

RHP

Jacksonville

19.

Cardinals

Marco Gonzales

LHP

Gonzaga

20.

Tigers

Jonathon Crawford

RHP

Florida

21.

Rays

Nick Ciuffo

C

Lexington HS (S.C.)

22.

Orioles

Hunter Harvey

RHP

Bandys HS (N.C.)

23.

Rangers

Alex Gonzalez

RHP

Oral Roberts

24.

As

Billy McKinney

OF

Plano HS (Texas)

25.

Giants

Christian Arroyo

SS

Hernando HS (Fla.)

26.

Yankees

Eric Jagielo

3B

Notre Dame

27.

Reds

Phil Ervin

OF

Samford

28.

Cardinals

Rob Kaminsky

LHP

Saint Joseph Regional HS (N.J.)

29.

Rays

Ryne Stanek

RHP

Arkansas

30.

Rangers

Travis Demeritte

SS

Winder-Barrow HS (Ga.)

31.

Braves

Jason Hursh

RHP

Oklahoma State

32.

Yankees

Aaron Judge

OF

Fresno State

33.

Yankees

Ian Clarkin

LHP

Madison HS (Calif.)

2012

The 2012 First-Year Amateur Draft had a distinct feel, following the new Collective Bargaining Agreement reached the previous offseason. Draft signing bonus pools were allotted, with each pick in the first 10 rounds having a value assigned to it. Penalties were assessed to teams that spent beyond their allotted pools. The Draft was condensed from 50 rounds to 40. And the signing deadline was moved up from Aug. 15 to the middle of July.

Carlos Correa was taken No. 1 overall by the Astros, who signed the 18-year-old Puerto Rican just two days after selecting him. Correa was an unlikely first pick, but he impressed Astros' officials in late workouts with his size and power, and he signed for $2.4 million less than the $7.2 million allotted value for the top pick, allowing the Astros to use that saved money on later picks that were considered harder to sign. Correa became the first player from Puerto Rico taken first overall.

With the No. 2 pick, the Twins took high school outfielder Byron Buxton, who hit .513 with 17 doubles and 38 stolen bases during his senior season at Appling County High School in Georgia.

Mike Zunino went No. 3 to the Mariners and was the last of the top three to be signed, inking a deal on July 2. The son of Reds scout Greg Zunino, Mike helped lead his Florida Gators team to three consecutive College World Series appearances in 2010-12.

The quick-signing theme continued throughout the first round, with only one first rounder out of 30 failing to sign by the deadline. Overall spending on first-round picks dropped from $233.6 million in 2011 to $203.7 million.

Pick

Team

Player

Pos.

School

1.

Astros

Carlos Correa

SS

Puerto Rico BB Academy (P.R.)

2.

Twins

Byron Buxton

OF

Appling County HS (Ga.)

3.

Mariners

Mike Zunino

C

Florida

4.

Orioles

Kevin Gausman

RHP

LSU

5.

Royals

Kyle Zimmer

RHP

University of San Francisco

6.

Cubs

Albert Almora

OF

Mater Academy Charter School (Fla.)

7.

Padres

Max Fried

LHP

Harvard-Westlake HS (Calif.)

8.

Pirates

Mark Appel

RHP

Stanford

9.

Marlins

Andrew Heaney

LHP

Oklahoma State

10.

Rockies

David Dahl

OF

Oak Mountain HS (Ala.)

11.

A's

Addison Russell

SS

Pace HS (Fla.)

12.

Mets

Gavin Cecchini

SS

Barbe HS (La.)

13.

White Sox

Courtney Hawkins

OF

Carroll HS (Texas)

14.

Reds

Nick Travieso

RHP

Archbishop McCarthy HS (Fla.)

15.

Indians

Tyler Naquin

OF

Texas A&M

16.

Nationals

Lucas Giolito

RHP

Harvard-Westlake HS (Calif.)

17.

Blue Jays

D.J. Davis

OF

Stone County HS (Miss.)

18.

Dodgers

Corey Seager

SS

Northwest Cabarrus HS (N.C.)

19.

Cardinals

Michael Wacha

RHP

Texas A&M

20.

Giants

Chris Stratton

RHP

Mississippi State

21.

Braves

Lucas Sims

RHP

Brookwood HS (Ga.)

22.

Blue Jays

Marcus Stroman

RHP

Duke

23.

Cardinals

James Ramsey

OF

Florida State

24.

Red Sox

Deven Marrero

SS

Arizona State

25.

Rays

Richie Shaffer

3B

Clemson

26.

D-Backs

Stryker Trahan

C

Acadiana HS (La.)

27.

Brewers

Clint Coulter

C

Union HS (Wash.)

28.

Brewers

Victor Roache

OF

Georgia Southern

29.

Rangers

Lewis Brinson

OF

Coral Springs HS (Fla.)

30.

Yankees

Ty Hensley

RHP

Edmond Santa Fe HS (Okla.)

2011

The 2011 First-Year Player Draft included some familiar names, as sons of several famous sports figures were drafted. The Cubs grabbed Trevor Gretzky, son of all-time hockey great Wayne Gretzky, while Derech Rodriguez, son of former American League Most Valuable Player Pudge Rodriguez, was chosen by the Twins with the 208th pick. Ryan Garvey, son of 10-time All-Star Steve Garvey, was drafted by the Phillies (No. 481 overall).
With their fourth No. 1 overall pick in franchise history, the Pirates selected UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole, who had gone 8-2 with a 0.46 ERA in 75 2/3 innings during his junior season.
The Mariners, D-backs, and Orioles all took starting pitchers with their first picks, too, making the first four overall selection starting pitchers. A total of 792 pitchers were selected in the 2011 Draft.
The Mariners bolstered what looked to be a strong future rotation, adding Danny Hultzen with the second overall pick. Seattle was impressed with the leftys maturity and athleticism, following his 11-3 record in his final year with Virginia. The D-Backs followed with Cole's rotation mate Trevor Bauer as their top pick, hoping to capitalize quickly on the UCLA right-hander, who was perceived as being close to big league-ready. Bauer led the country in strikeouts as a sophomore and junior and was 13-2 with a 1.25 ERA in his last 16 starts with the Bruins.

The Orioles rounded out the streak, grabbing Oklahoma high schooler Dylan Bundy with the fourth pick. Bundy struck out 164 in his senior season at Owasso High School, going 11-1 with a 1.58 ERA.

Pick

Team

Player

Pos.

School

1.

Pirates

Gerrit Cole

RHP

UCLA

2.

Mariners

Danny Hultzen

LHP

Virginia

3.

D-Backs

Trevor Bauer

UCLA

UCLA

4.

Orioles

Dylan Bundy

RHP

Owasso HS (Okla.)

5.

Royals

Bubba Starling

OF

Gardner Edgerton HS (Kan.)

6.

Nationals

Anthony Rendon

3B

Rice

7.

D-Backs

Archie Bradley

RHP

Broken Arrow Sr. HS (Okla.)

8.

Reds

Francisco Lindor

SS

Montverde Academy (Fla.)

9.

Cubs

Javier Baez

SS

Arlington Country Day School (Fla.)

10.

Padres

Cory Spangenberg

2B

Indian River State

11.

Astros

George Springer

OF

Connecticut

12.

Brewers

Taylor Jungmann

RHP

University of Texas

13.

Mets

Brandon Nimmo

OF

Cheyenne East HS (Wyo.)

14.

Marlins

Jose Fernandez

RHP

Braulio Alonso HS (Fla.)

15.

Brewers

Jed Bradley

LHP

Georgia Tech

16.

Dodgers

Chris Reed

LHP

Stanford

17.

Angels

C.J. Cron

1B

Utah

18.

A's

Sonny Gray

RHP

Vanderbilt

19.

Red Sox

Matt Barnes

RHP

Connecticut

20.

Rockies

Tyler Anderson

LHP

Oregon

21.

Blue Jays

Tyler Beede

RHP

Lawrence Academy (Mass.)

22.

Cardinals

Kolten Wong

2B

Hawaii

23.

Nationals

Alex Meyer

RHP

Kentucky

24.

Rays

Taylor Guerrieri

RHP

Spring Valley HS (S.C.)

25.

Padres

Joe Ross

RHP

Bishop O'Dowd School (Calif.)

26.

Red Sox

Blake Swihart

C

V Sue Cleveland HS (N.M.)

27.

Reds

Robert Stephenson

RHP

Alhambra HS (Calif.)

28.

Braves

Sean Gilmartin

LHP

Florida State

29.

Giants

Joe Panik

SS

St. Johns

30.

Twins

Levi Michael

SS

North Calolina

2010

The Washington Nationals made 17 year-old Bryce Harper the third-youngest player to be taken first overall in the First-Year Player Draft, following Tim Foli and Ken Griffey Jr. Harper was also just the fifth catcher to be drafted first, but the Nats announced they'd move him to the outfield to speed up his arrival to the Major Leagues. Harper hit .442 with 29 home runs and 89 RBIs during his freshman season at College of Southern Nevada, where hed gone to play after his sophomore year in high school.

The Pirates used the second overall pick to make Texas prep right-hander Jameson Taillon the first of 804 pitchers taken in the draft. There was a lot of talk that Manny Machado would be the Pirates top choice, but the power-hitter was instead selected third by the Baltimore Orioles. Machado, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound shortstop who drew comparisons to Alex Rodriguez, owned a .639 average with 12 homers and 56 RBIs as a high school senior in Miami.

High school players accounted for 32.7 percent of the total selections in the 10 draft -- the fifth-lowest percentage in Draft history. Clubs used 52.3 percent of their picks on pitchers, accounting for the seventh-highest percentage ever.

The Mets and White Sox helped start the pitching trend early, grabbing standout college hurlers Matt Harvey and Chris sale as the seventh and 13th picks, respectively. Harvey was 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA in his final year at North Carolina, while Sale was superb in his junior year, leading the NCAA Division I in strikeouts while going 11-0 with two saves.